Greens slam budget, but say Abbott's worse

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne has dismissed the federal budget as a plan without a broad vision that's beset by confusion.

But she says the coalition's alternative is even worse.

Senator Christine Milne delivered her party's budget-in-reply speech to the upper house on Thursday night shortly after Opposition leader Tony Abbott finished his in the lower house.

"It is a finance plan without a broad vision, beset by confusion and contradictions that makes this budget fail," Senator Milne said.

"Mr Abbott's alternative is worse, full of rhetoric but devoid of detail, the very magic pudding against which Mr Hockey railed."

She said Australians were looking for relief from cost of living pressures.

"Labor is not doing enough and we know Tony Abbott will make it worse," Senator Milne said.

The biggest disappointment was the government's refusal to increase Newstart and Youth Allowance by $50 a week and the continual "punishment" of single parents.

"This was the choice the government made, uncaring and mean," she said.

Senator Milne said the government was spending almost twice as much on "cruel detention polices" than on DisabilityCare and the Gonski education reforms combined over the forward estimates.

She reiterated the Greens' calls to strengthen the mining tax and railed against cuts to universities.

"If Labor had the courage to close the loopholes in the mining tax, like they are looking do to for other multi-national businesses, this could be a nation that invests in education as a whole - rather than cutting from universities and childcare to fund schools," she said.

"Can the treasurer explain how Rio Tinto made $9 billion dollars in profit from Australian iron ore last year and paid no mining tax?"

She slammed the $1 billion cut from renewable energy and environment programs.

"Given we are in a climate emergency and deep and sustained emission cuts are a scientific imperative, why should expenditure on climate related programs be revenue neutral?" Senator Milne asked.

"It is like saying defence should be revenue neutral in a war."

But she praised infrastructure spending on rail projects, in particular the Metro Rail and Perth rail projects.

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